Vub Upgrades - Offline to Online

This guide walks you through the process of taking a draft or standard vub used in an offline edit and generating a professional or theatrical vub for your online workflow and final delivery.

Understanding Vub Quality Tiers

DeepEditor offers four vub quality tiers, each designed to serve different stages and delivery specifications of a post-production workflow:

• Draft – Ideal for proving out ideas during the offline edit, similar to how temporary VFX are used. HD resolution. Please note a watermark is applied to draft vubs. 
  • h264, .mp4, low bit rate (4mb/s) 

• Standard – Suitable for internal reviews, client approvals, or screeners; still at offline proxy. HD resolution. Watermarks are not applied to standard vubs. 
  • ProRes 422 Proxy / 422 LT 
  • DNxHR LB / SQ

• Professional – Built for online workflows, supporting up to 12-bit color and 4K resolution. 
  • ProRes 422 / 422 HQ / 4444 / 4444 XQ
  • DNxHR HQ / HQX / 444

• Theatrical – The highest quality tier, offering up to 16-bit .exr ACES color workflows, 8K resolution, and a VFX turnover package.
  • .exr: ZIP / PIZ

These tiers are designed to be flexible. You don’t need to progress through all four in a single workflow, choose the ones that best suit your project’s needs.

For any post-production workflow that cuts with offline proxies and conforms to online at picture lock, it’s recommended to begin with Draft and Standard vubs during the offline edit to explore creative ideas and refine performance (much like using temporary VFX). Once picture lock is achieved, you can generate Professional or Theatrical quality vubs that are ready for online workflows and final delivery. 

Before You Begin

Make sure you have the following in place:

• A working understanding of DeepEditor and the visual dubbing process.
• A draft or standard vub already created and reviewed in your offline edit.
• Familiarity with the difference between offline and online workflows.
• Access to raw media for online conform.
• A Professional or Theatrical token available for use in DeepEditor.

Step One: Draft and Standard Vubs in the Offline Edit

Draft and standard vubs are used in offline edit workflows to explore and prove the creative intent of the visual dub. You’ll have:

• Uploaded proxy resolution source to DeepEditor.
• Generated a draft or standard vub to review in the timeline.
• The in/out cut from your rushes that was used to create your source is laid on a video track under your vub media. This ensures when the .aaf file is linking to the raw camera media in the next steps, the conform op will be able to pull the online res meda that can be used to create the source. 

Once you and the production team are happy with the result and want to carry the vub through to final delivery, it’s time to move into the online edit.

Step Two: Conform & Create Online Resolution Media

With picture lock confirmed, you’ll move into the online edit and begin conforming with original camera files.

• You’re likely now in DaVinci Resolve or a similar finishing platform.
• Conform your sequence and relink to original raw camera files.
• Export a new version of your source media at online specifications:
  • Full resolution (e.g., UHD, 4K or 8k)
  • Correct frame rate
  • Appropriate colour space (e.g., Rec. 709, Rec. 2020 or ACES 2065-1)
  • Video codec or image file format: 
    • DNxHR HQ / HQX / 444
    • ProRes 422 / 422 HQ / 4444 / 4444 XQ
    • .exr ZIP / PIZ

Step Three: Create a New Shot in DeepEditor

Because you can’t upgrade an existing vub, a new shot must be created in DeepEditor using your online-resolution source.

1. Create a new shot in your project.
2. Upload your online source media, selecting the correct colour space.
3. Reuse your driving data file if it’s unchanged (same duration and frame count), or upload a new version if it's been revised (e.g., new dialogue or ADR).
4. Optional: Add training data (see Step Four).
5. Under Generate Vub, select the Professional or Theatrical quality tier. This ensures, exports match the resolution, frame rate, colour space, and codec/image file format of your online source.

Step Four (Optional): Add Training Data

What is Training Data?

Training Data is extra footage that helps improve the quality of the render, especially around the mouth, lips, teeth, and skin by teaching DeepEditor how the actor’s face moves when they speak. It adds more detail to the facial model used to create your vub, resulting in more realistic and expressive outcomes.

Tips for Choosing Effective Training Data

• Use additional footage of the same actor in similar lighting and makeup.
• The actor must be speaking clearly with their mouth fully visible.
• Footage from the same scene or take often works best.
• You don’t need to match the frame count of your source.
  • For example, if your source is 150 frames, uploading 200–300 training frames will improve results.
• You can upload multiple clips, short or long. 

For more guidance, visit the Training Data section in the Knowledge Base

Final Notes

Once your Professional or Theatrical vub is generated you can download your full-quality file matching the spec of your online source. 

Visual Dubs and Grade Workflows

If scheduling and the workflow allows, it is recommended to remove the grade from source media before uploading it to DeepEditor. This allows for the vub to have grades applied after it has been signed off and will ensure it can be archived for future grade/mastering.  

Tracking Training Data Through to Conform

If Training Data was used to generate a vub during the offline edit, it’s essential to reference that Training Data in the picture-locked .aaf. This ensures that during the conform stage, the online editor or conform operator receives the corresponding high-resolution Training Data alongside the final source file. 

This is important because if the conform process does not include the original Training Data, the online render may not match the offline preview, resulting in a drop in visual fidelity or discrepancies in the vub.

By flagging Training Data at picture lock, you ensure continuity between offline and online and preserve the quality of the final vub.